Teesworks shareholders get huge pay day as turnover and profit plummet
Shareholders in the controversial Teesworks development in the North East have received a bumper pay day despite profit and turnover plummeting at the controversial site.
The site has been in the headlines since the company behind the scheme became the target of a government investigation in the wake of 90 per cent of its ownership being handed to a pair of private developers.
According to newly-filed accounts with Companies House, Teesworks Limited’s turnover has been slashed from £142.8m to £22.1m while its pre-tax profit has slumped from £67m to £3.7m.
The accounts show that the majority of its income was generated through the sale of unused land and aggregates from the site.
The results have also revealed that Teesworks Limited handed a dividend of £20.2m to its shareholders, up from the £3m it paid out in the prior year.
The scheme started out as a 50-50 joint venture between the public and private sectors but is now only 10 per cent owned by the UK taxpayer.
The site used to be occupied by steelworks but the new development will be open to a range of industrial users, including wind turbine manufacturing and carbon capture.
It was set up in 2020 with a public body overseen by local Conservative mayor Ben Houchen, the South Tees Development Corporation (STDC), owning 50 per cent while the rest was held by businesses controlled by developers Chris Musgrave and Martin Corney.
A statement signed of by Corney said: “In the director’s opinion, the performance of the company during the year ending 31 March, 2024, has been steady but slightly hampered with delayed investment decisions by incoming occupiers. Principally due to geo-political events.
“However, having exceeded all major milestones and performance ambitions in terms of land clearance, land availability and lease negotiations thus far we are confident that the following year’s performance will progress at pace.”
He added: “Some delays to progress have been experienced over the last 12-18 months with investment decisions being delayed because of forthcoming national elections and also whilst an independent review was conducted on the Teesworks project.
“However, as this review has now concluded, swift progress across the site can resume.
The Teesworks site is undergoing a transition away from public investment used to kick start the repurposing of the site, into a private sector led remediation and redevelopment phrase.
“It should also be noted, notwithstanding the great progress to date, future activity of the regeneration of the site will be across a number of years, and at significant cost that is forecast to be in the hundreds of millions of pounds.
“Ground surveys and infrastructure assessments are all under way and while ground conditions and infrastructure conditions in a number of cases remain unknown and therefore carry risk of uncertainty and cost assessment, the board are confident that progress will continue to be made and at an expedited pace.
“Indeed, the original masterplan for the site forecast a 25-year delivery time horizon which, at the current pace of progress, will be reduced by at least a decade.”